Meet new staffers on board to help strengthen PROTEC17

There have been lots of changes happening at PROTEC17 since the arrival of Executive Director Karen Estevenin in May, including the hiring of new staff members Paul Marvy and Xuan-Trang Tran-Thien.

Marvy joins PROTEC17 as a Project Administrator working on everything from assessing legal and internal policies to identifying paths for organizing new members. His own career path has been as diverse as his assignment. He has been a data analyst for a public health project at the University of California; a public defender in King County, legal council at the Northwest Justice Project, and a strategic organizer for Change to Win, a national coalition of Labor and allies.
Most recently, Marvy worked locally for Teamsters 117 as Research Director, gathering and using information to improve the Local’s negotiating, organizing and representation.

Tran-Thien is a seasoned community, political and labor organizer, coalition leader, facilitator, and leadership trainer with over two decades of experience. She understands the particular dynamics of community-led and membership-driven organizations, and specializes in outreach, base-building, community and political campaign planning and design, and leadership development strategies that help expand organizations’ public involvement, influence, inclusion, and support.

At PROTEC17, Tran-Thien will be working with staff and member-leaders to identify, plan and lead strategic growth campaigns that strengthen our union membership. Part of that effort will also be to help shape PROTEC17’s leadership development program.

“I’m especially looking forward to working with members to build our union strength and power on the job, and advance our common vision for a just world,” said Tran-Thien.

Previously, Tran-Thien worked with the Japanese American Citizens League, Asian Pacific Islander Americans for Civic Empowerment, AFL-CIO, Washington Alliance for Immigrant & Refugee Justice, UFCW’s Justice for Janitors campaigns, and helped found Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare 775NW.

These staffers are a pivotal part of the new vision for PROTEC17. Estevenin is currently embarking on a member-focused strategic planning process for 2020-2022 to further define our priorities for the next three years. As part of the the planning process, a survey was sent to all members in July, and further input will be sought at meetings this fall.

“I’m excited to welcome Paul and Tran-Thien to our staff,” said Estevenin. “Their combined expertise – along with the rest of our stellar staff and dedicated member leaders – is just what PROTEC17 needs to help us foster the next generation of leaders, build more power within our membership, and strengthen our influence in the wider Labor community.”